Ala. airport sign falls on family, killing boy

AP , Associated Press

Mar. 23, 201312:33 AM ET

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A sign at the Birmingham airport fell on a family Friday, killing a 10-year boy and injuring other family members.

Tamika Moore

A flight information sign at the newly renovated Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., fell on a mother and her three children Friday afternoon, March 22, 2013, killing one child and injuring the mother and her two other children. (AP Photo/Tamika Moore, AL.com) MAGS OUT

A flight information sign at the newly renovated Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., fell on a mother and her three children Friday afternoon, March 22, 2013, killing one child and injuring the mother and her two other children. (AP Photo/Tamika Moore, AL.com) MAGS OUT

Fire trucks line up outside the terminal at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., where a message board sign fell on a family killing one child and injuring the mother and two other children Friday, March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/AL.com, Mark Almond) MAGS OUT

People hold up a message board sign that fell on a family killing a child and injuring the mother and two other children in the terminal at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., Friday, March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/ AL.com, Carol Robinson) MAGS OUT

A maintenance worker sweeps up debris beside a message board sign that fell on a family killing a child and injuring the mother and two other children in the terminal at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., Friday, March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/ AL.com, Mark Almond) MAGS OUT

Deputy Coroner Derrick Perryman said 10-year-old Luke Bresette was pronounced dead at Children's of Alabama. Two other children were being treated there, and the mother, Heather Bresette, was taken to University Hospital, where spokeswoman Nicole Wyatt said she was in critical condition. Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Derrick Perryman confirms the family is from Overland Park, Kan.

Albert Osorio, 46, of Birmingham told al.com (http://bit.ly/XvWV7p) that he was close by when the sign fell. He said a loud boom was followed by screams from the family and witnesses. Then he and five other passers-by lifted off the sign.

"The whole thing flipped down on those kids. It took all of us here to stand it up," he said.

Airport spokeswoman Toni Herrera-Bast said officials aren't sure how the sign fell. She said it happened about 1:30 p.m. Friday in a pre-security area of the airport. The airport continued operating while rescue workers tended to the family.

The airport completed the first phase of a more than $201 million modernization effort and opened newly renovated concourses last week.

Mayor William Bell issued a statement saying the city offered its full support to the Airport Authority in investigating the accident.